Injury didn’t stop Ferguson from developing on defense
Thunder guard Terrance Ferguson didn’t see a dropoff in his defense when he returned from an ankle sprain that sidelined him for over a week. If anything, he improved.
“I think sometimes things can slow down a little for you,” OKC coach Billy Donovan said after practice Tuesday. “Obviously you never want to see a player get down or injured. But here Terrance is playing some time, and then all of a sudden you’re in a different situation where you’re not getting prepared to play, but you’re actually preparing to watch. And you can learn a lot of different things from going through something like that.”
When the Thunder took the floor in an eventual 122-113 win over the Jazz on Monday, Ferguson matched up with Utah guard Donovan Mitchell.
Five minutes into the game, Thunder forward Paul George turned the ball over as he tried to draw a foul on a fast break. Mitchell collected the ball and took off past Ferguson, who had set up in the corner.
Ferguson sprinted after Mitchell, overtaking him as they approached the 3-point line. Ferguson slid in front of Mitchell, hands back, careful not to foul, and stopped him in his tracks.
“I’ve always said this about really good offensive players and good scorers, you just don’t necessarily shut guys down like that,” Donovan said of guarding Mitchell. “But what you do is try to make it as difficult, and you make them work as hard, as (possible). I think the biggest thing was Terrance made him work."
Adams and Davis rematch
The last meeting of Thunder center Steven Adams and the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis featured Adams sticking so tightly to Davis that he even, much to Davis’ dismay, rested his head on the New Orleans big man’s shoulder while Russell Westbrook took free throws at the other end of the floor. Adams gets another crack at Davis one game after Adams’ impressive performance against Utah center Rudy Gobert.
“Every team ... has a formula for how they have to go about winning,” Donovan said. “For us, one of the things that generates points is Steven’s rim runs . ... One, it creates easy post-ups and scores. Two, it creates potential foul situations. And we can play off of him because he’s such a good passer.”
OKC takes on New Orleans at Smoothie King Center Wednesday night.